


From The Ground Up

by QueenBumble



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Homecoming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:22:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBumble/pseuds/QueenBumble
Summary: Prompt:Ben, popular QB of the school’s football team, is definitely going to be Homecoming King, Rey is definitely not going to be Homecoming Queen, she doesn’t even own a dress to go to the dance. But he can’t stop thinking about her. Get them together. End with loss of virginity – his.





	From The Ground Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imargarita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imargarita/gifts).

> I apologize for the update notification! This is still only at one chapter on 11/2 I just wanted to format a bit because I couldn't stand the fact that I just pasted it from my Google docs since I'm on my phone 😅
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy the story 💕

The halls of Naboo Heights High are electrified with the excitement and nerves of the new year. Freshman on the first floor are no doubt near silent with teachers like Mr. Tarkin and Ms. Sloane prepared to scare them straight for the next four years. Sophomores will learn that things do get better after the first year, but Mr. Walzel’s geography pop quizzes will make them question their sanity at times. Juniors have it easiest. Teachers are kindest to them because they’re comfortable and only just begin to fall into existential crises around April when they realize they have to begin planning the rest of their lives if their parents haven’t done so already. Finally, there are the Seniors and they either have everything figured out and are ready to tool around for a decent chunk of the year, or they’re in a tailspin to find a purpose.

  
“And this is why Hux is the kicker, man,” Ben laughs as another paper football goes flying into the wall behind him. Poe turns and starts folding more paper before the last projectile even bounces to the ground, “Just put your hands back up and hold the commentary, scrub.”

  
Ben pushes back his black waves, he is sure to get chewed out by the coach for it being too long but he finally grew it out enough to cover his satellite sized ears.

The young man holds his fingers out as goal posts once more as Poe lines up the shot, balancing the football between his index finger and the back of his chair. The tardy bell rings and out of the corner of his eye, Ben sees an arm intercept the door from the frame. A high pitch whine is audible for all of a second over the other students catching up and Rey Johnson firmly pushes the door open, out of Mr. Ackbar’s grasp.

  
“Hmph. Try to be here a minute sooner, tomorrow, Miss Johnson. Go ahead and take a seat, there should be a few left.”

Rey mumbles a ‘yessir’ and nods, the three messy buns lined down the back of her head bob. She sounds as if she’s stepping on mice, all too aware that her sneakers are too new for the recently mopped floors. The buttons lined down her blue dress click against the tile when she bends to put her binders in the metal basket hung beneath the chair to Ben’s immediate right. Ben, who has been frozen, eyes locked on the beautiful albeit pissed girl, is suddenly blinded.

  
“SHIT!”

“SCORE!”

Since he bulked up sometime during Junior year Ben does his best to hide all 6’2” of his no-longer-lean body up against the back wall of every class. Neither boy is very easy to ignore and Poe has never made an effort to fade into the background. Ben is folded over his desk pressing his palm against his eyelid as his friend whoops and cackles.

“I told you I could-”

“Solo. Dameron. It is the _first_ day. _Please_ do me the courtesy of not breaking some record by writing up two students exactly,” Ackbar refers to his watch, “Two minutes-and-twenty-four seconds into the school year.”

Poe slaps Ben’s broad back, “Gotta watch your language bro, you’re gonna get us both in trouble!”

Ben comes to the conclusion that the satisfaction he’d get from strangling his best friend wouldn’t be worth the backlash he’d face from the school for offing their wide receiver.

“We’ll behave, Mr. Ackbar, sir.”

The wide-eyed old man is exhausted just looking at the handsome latino with honest eyes.

“I don’t believe you, but we’ll carry on.”

+++

Rey is almost able to breathe without pins and needles by the end of third period. Some time between taking first day of school pictures with her foster siblings and her brother Finn telling her he’d decided he wants to be a chef and will be applying to culinary school out of state, her brain thought it would be a good time to have a panic attack.

Finn is the only constant she’s ever had. She bounced from foster home to foster home for nearly 10 years and when she was 14 she found her lifeline. Her best friend, her brother. They had a plan. They were going to get an apartment together in the city, go to community college to get their basics done while they save up and work on their off days and when they are ready and have a better idea of what they wanted to do they’d apply to the same universities.

She wound up in a utility closet gripping a flimsy metal shelf for dear life as she tried to stop gasping like a fish out of water. She’d managed to keep most of the tears from spilling over but the way she rubbed and wiped at her face left her cheeks an angry red. Smile. Smiling releases dopamine and serotonin and she _will not_ walk into class looking as if she’s been crying.

If she did, no one said anything. Walking in as the bell chimed adds unwanted attention but some higher power is looking out for her and Poe Dameron decides to be an idiot long enough to make the class and Ackbar completely forget about her.

Precalc, principles of engineering, and Spanish III out of the way she only has Physics, Theatre, English, and Geography left before she can go home and crawl into bed and cry in peace.

Rey makes her way into the science building and Phasma glides in shoulder to- upper forearm with her. The tall blonde wastes no time prattling off how her first few classes have gone and Rey is happy for the distraction.

It’s only her first day and Rey knows Physics is going to be her favorite class the moment she walks in. Not only is Phasma here, but the new girl from her engineering class — Rose, she thinks— Phasma’s boyfriend Hux who is pretty cool, and Ben from precalc is sitting next to him. She doesn’t really know either boy very well but the fact that she’s interacted with them at all is comforting.They’re definitely less threatening than Poe, who had been in her engineering class. It isn’t that he’s aggressive or anything like that, he’s just too _out there_ and the idea of being dragged into trouble because he’s too inclusive with his fun is a source of great anxiety for quite a few students. Which includes Rey.

Friends aside, Mr. Skywalker is definitely the highlight. He looks like he spends his entire paycheck at Earthbound in the mall. He’s dressed in layers of grey robes, flowing pants, and rope sandals. He has a grey beard and shoulder length hair pulled into a tiny bun at the base of his skull. After a short introduction when he says they’re allowed to call him Luke— he responds faster to it than ‘Skywalker’— he spends the rest of their first class trying to get them excited for the year. How physics is everything and the energy surrounding everything and the potential all that energy has. He has the students pull out their phones and Google questions they have so he can try to explain further. He doesn’t assign them homework but instead tells them to consider the potential they all have and come back tomorrow ready to learn.

“I can’t believe he’s allowed to wear that getup. He looks like he’d drink milk straight from the cow because he’s friends with it or something. We’re learning physics from a hippie,” Phasma is staring off at nothing, distraught as she and Rey make their way to the theatre building.

“He dresses like one, sure, but he talks about physics like it’s the only thing that keeps him up at night. I think we got lucky, he could totally hate his life,” Rey defends.

“It’s refreshing to see an eager teacher sure. I’m just saying one of these days campus security may try and keep him out some morning for looking like a hermit.”

Rey and Phasma turn into the only hallway in the building, sandwiched between the green room and the actual classroom. Finn is propped up against the doorframe wearing the same mint green bermudas and white button up from their photos this morning.

“Hey! How’s the first day going, peanut?”  
Rey is pulled in into a quick hug from her brother but she’s stiff and trying to keep herself from sinking into the sticky, abyssal mindset that is ‘Finn is leaving. Finn is leaving. Finn is leaving.’

“It’s been okay,” she tries to pull a genuine smile out of her, “where are you sitting?”

“My bag is under the playbill-board but we’re going to have seats assigned once class begins.”

“Assigned seats in _theatre_?”

“Yeah, Mrs. K likes to make a game out of it on the first day. We get numbers and there are bingo balls involved— She’ll explain. There were two giant tables in here originally but I guess the school got her desks.”

Finn shrugs and tells her she should sit down with Phasma and he’s going to be in after he greets everyone.

Rey huffs. So even in her class she intentionally took to be with Finn she may not even get to sit next to him. Spectacular.

+++

Rey is barely through the door when Finn locks eyes with Ben who is quietly standing at the end of the hall.

“Buddy! Stop creeping and get over here!”

Ben’s face lights up, a pavlovian response to this friend or this place or the combination of the two. He feels like he’s home.  
The warm gooey feeling in his chest melts away as Finn charges at him.  
Shit. Shit. Shit.  
Ben is in a race to drop his backpack and widens his stance before Finn jumps into his arms, fully expecting to be caught bridal style.

“Oh _fuck_ me, did you eat cement all summer?!”

“I gained muscle everywhere, man. Not everyone can lift their way into a C cup,” Finn pokes at Ben’s pectoral and he flinches.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that. You’re all ass and thigh.”

“And this is the only complaint I’ve gotten!”

“I bet!” Ben kicks his backpack down the hall and slowly walks toward the classroom door.

“Hey, was that Rey Johnson?” `

Finn nods, “Yeah, her first year doing theatre. We didn’t have any other classes together so she swapped 5th period web design for theatre.”

Ben halts, “Wait, so are you— you’re just friends right?”

Finn bites his bottom lip and snorts, “Rey is my sister, dude, where have you been?”

“Wait so she’s adopted too?”

“Yeah man. We’ve been friends for like four years how are you just now finding this out?”

Ben stares off into space still holding Finn in his arms. He shrugs, “I don’t know. We don’t really talk outside of classes and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two in the same room before now.”

Finn nods, “We’ll have to fix that then. So, you like her?”

He nearly drops Finn, “N-no I don’t ah— I don’t even know her I’ve just had her in a few classes over the years. We had— I mean we have precalc and physics together now.”

Finn nods, trying to stifle a grin with his bottom lip jutted out just so, “and now theatre.”

“And now theatre.”

The comfort from before is totally gone now with the smile Finn is giving him, “What? Why are you giving me the face?”

“No reason, just glad you’re friends with my sis.”

“We aren’t really frien—”

“You’re well acquainted. Which is great.”

Ben makes a weak “Eh,” sound before roughly changing the topic to their grand entrance.

+++

“Hey Rey!”

The small hand that taps Rey’s shoulder belongs to the cute Asian girl she’s already seen twice today, “Rose! Why didn’t you walk over with Phasma and I?”

Phasma and Rey are sitting at a pair of desks near the back of the class waiting for the bell and Rose pulls up a seat beside the tall blonde.

“I had to run back to my locker and swap out my books. I’ll walk with you two tomorrow though if that’s okay?”

“Yeah of course.”

Rose turns to Phasma now, “I thought your name was Gwen. Did I get that wrong?”  
Phas shakes her head, her loose curls bouncing around her ears.

“No, my name is Gwen. I’m the debate captain and most of us go by our last names at competition so after a while people just started calling me Captain Phasma.”

“Do you prefer it?”

Phasma shrugs, “I don’t really have a preference. It’s my name.”

“Well, I think Gwen is really pretty.”

Rey’s eyes flick between her friend and the little girl that’s brought a tinge of pink to her cheeks.

“So, I didn’t expect three of us to have consecutive classes together! That’s kinda funny don’t you think?”

Phasma turns away from Rose, her wide blue eyes screaming ‘thank you for saving me from awkward silence.’

“Four of us actually. It’s because of a scheduling conflict. If you had to take Physics and wanted to take theatre it had to be blocked for fourth and fifth periods. Mrs. K actually had to pull a lot of strings to make sure all of her seniors were in the same class. Ben wasn’t supposed to take Physics this year and they worked through it.”

Rey looks around the class recognizing some faces: Kaydel, Snap, Jessika, Cody, and T.K.. There were others but mostly band kids she didn’t know the names of. But no Ben.

“Ben Solo? The football player?”

The bell for class chimes and Phasma nods in the direction of the door. Ben Solo is standing just this side of the doorframe and announces, “You know, this may turn into the longest day of my entire life.”

Finn pops his head over Ben’s shoulder, one of the small spaces that aren’t currently blocked by his massive frame, “Oh! I got the perfect remedy for that!” and then _jumps_ onto the kid’s back.

Rey can’t look away as her brother climbs one of their classmates. Ben doesn’t look like he’s affected at all by having a guy as brawny as himself climb him like a rock wall.

“Donkey! Please, I’m begging you!” Ben wails. Finn The Choir Boy appears. His back straightened for maximum diaphragm space and his legs wrapped snugly around Ben’s midsection, making his shirt ride up and show a sliver of pale skin in an attempt at good posture.

_“Sing a song, yes, a travel song when you gotta go somewhere! ‘Cause the fun is getting there, oh, what the heck I must confess, I love a road trip!”_

Rey watches them make their way around the classroom, Finn radiating chaotic joy and light as he rides Ben who is doing his best to brood while singing, _“Why me? Why me? Tell me what was my crime. As chatty as a parrot, more annoying than a mime,”_ in round with Finn.

Beside her, Phasma begins to clap and the class follows suit. This is normal, Rey thinks. They’re used to acapella musical numbers in this class.

Ben ends their song with a simple, “that’ll do Donkey, that’ll do.”

Someone—  
Someone out there made a _Shrek _musical.

The class erupts in applause. She’s unable to keep the smile off her lips but Rey’s eyes are closed and doing their best to find her brain.

Finn and Ben take a bow in front of, what is to be assumed, the teacher’s desk.

“Alright! Alright! Settle down!” An old, albeit lean muscled, woman booms from behind. She’s trotting up to the desk and holds out her hands to the boys. On cue, they each give her a hand and lift her onto her desk.

“Thank you boys for the show, you may find a seat for the moment.”

Her wide circular glasses catch the fluorescent light as she scans the room. She is dressed in burgundy sweatpants, tucked into striped fuzzy socks and no shoes. Her grey, waist-length shawl is over a teal sweater that is tucked into her pants and her wrists are adorned with clunky plastic bracelets. Her skin looks old but tough, like leather, like someone who spent their youth outside. Her hair is hidden beneath a grey knitted cap that matches her shawl but Rey can see a few black hairs curl around the edges. She stands _maybe_ at five feet tall but Rey’s sitting and looking up and at a distance could possibly be distorting her eyeball measurement.

“My name is Mazarine Kanata,” her sock covered toes wiggle over the edge of her pedestal, “I see a few familiar faces but for those of you that do not know, the deal is, if you graduate and I like you, I’ll allow you to call me Maz, but to all of you now I am Mrs. Kanata. I am not Missus, or teacher _or Mrs. K._ I took the time to learn all of your names and faces the least you can do is remember mine.”

Rey can feel the energy vibrating from Mrs. Kanata. So different from Luke’s, where he is fluid and easygoing she is solid and in your face. Rey has a laid back physics teacher and a rigid theatre teacher and both don’t know how to dress. Who could’ve guessed?

Mrs. Kanata is still standing on her desk as she instructs all of the students to gather their belongings and go stand against the back wall covered in photos from years past.

“For the first day we will do roll like this. Each student has a number on this list here,” she waves a clipboard over her head, “and we will match you to a numbered desk in the class. You will also notice this year I’ve decided to do away with tables and instead all desks are in pairs. There will be no teams, you all argued too much last year and communication was pitiful. Instead we will be practicing the buddy system to helps us as a better whole. So whomever you with with will be your new theatre buddy. I’ve met toddlers who can do this so lets see you try and muck this up.”

Rey’s hopes go out the window by the second name. Finn is paired with a boy named Cody whom she’s only met once or twice before. Then Phasma is paired with Rose and all is lost. Kaydel and Troy, Snap and Jessika, T.K. and Ali, Matt and Alexandra, Adam and Joanne.

Which, by default, leaves her in the back of the class with Ben Solo.

It’s obvious who the new students are because they all jolt forward when the old woman hops off of her desk onto the tile.

She begins going over the syllabus like most other teachers have today and Rey can feel her eyes glaze over.

“Hey,” Rey turns to Ben who’s brought her back from outer space, “how are you doing?”

Ben is much closer than she expected. Their desks are touching side by side but she hadn’t actually _looked_ at him since they sat down. He’s even bigger up close, completely eclipsing her view of the room behind him. He’s turned to his side, facing her, his left arm propping him up, making them as close to eye level as he can comfortably get.

His eyes remind her of autumn leaves, the green slowly morphing into an amber color. His paleness complexion is only more extreme with his black hair framing his speckled face. His nose is masculine and fitting for his angular jawline and strong brow.

His brows pinch and make a divot in his forehead. He’s still looking at her.

“I’m sorry, what?” Rey murmured.

“I just— I was wondering how you’re doing. This morning you seemed a little stressed is it— has your day gotten any better?”

“Oh, I uh. Hmm,” has her day gotten any better? She thinks so. Kind of. Her brother is leaving after graduation. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. She does have a cool teacher and at least one person she knows in every class so far. She got to see Finn perform and that always cheers her up.

“I guess, yeah it’s gotten a little better. It’s been… a moody day. Thank you for asking.”

Rey turns back to Mrs. Kanata who, she’s pretty sure, has yet to take a breath.

“I definitely have my ‘moody’ days. I get it,” Rey can hear him suck in a little air, “do you want to talk about it?”

Rey has to purse her lips to keep from breaking out into a full blown smile.

Eyebrows low, she turns and rests her cheek and part of her mouth in her palm, “You… want me to talk about my problems?”

She can see his pale skin turn a little pink, “I mean, I can tell you about my day first, if you want.”

Rey has seen Ben Solo around this school for four years. She’s had classes with him throughout the years and maybe said a handful of words to him and vice versa. She was in the hallway when the fight between Snap and him occurred sophomore year and the whole grade made an effort to hide his bruises and Snap’s broken nose. She’d heard the crash from downstairs when he’d thrown a chair and was escorted to the principal’s office just last year. Ben Solo is quiet and gentle until something sets him off. There are plenty of rumors of what exactly lights that fuse but she’s never cared enough to pay attention. He has always been quiet and calm around her which is why it’s unsettling to have him suddenly give her attention not necessary to class.

For some reason this big angry boy is asking her to talk about her problems and offering to tell her about his own.

“You can go first,” she says.


End file.
